Impacts of PEG-6000 pretreatment for barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) seeds on the effect of their mature embryo in vitro culture and primary investigation on its physiological mechanism.

In this paper, we studied polyetheneglycol (PEG) pretreatment effect on the mature embryo culture in vitro by using barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) seeds. Meanwhile, we analyzed and assayed its mineral element and endogenous hormone level. The experimental results were as follows: (1) PEG-6000 imbibition could obviously slow down the water timecourse absorbed by barley seeds; (2) 10% PEG-6000 treatment of barley seeds for 3 h had a positive effect on germination in vitro and callus induction of the barley seed mature embryos; (3) 10% PEG-6000 treatment inhibited soluble leakage from the seeds; (4) N leakage was mainly from the endosperms, Mn2+ leakage from embryos; (5) PEG-6000 treatment changed greatly the hormone level (ABA, IAA, GAs), which influenced the percentage of plantlets from the mature embryo callus. The results can provide some clues to scientific sowing of crop seeds, pretreatment for the purpose of uniform seedlings, and the explant response quality in plant tissue culture.